I was discussing the dying fish with my husband last night and he looked at me kind of strangely and told me, "well, of course the fish are going to die. What did you expect when kennecott filters their mine water into our lake? Why do you think we're not supposed to swim in it?". Turns out, one of his teachers at school had seen the plans for our lake and it shows the mines water dumping straight into it. Granted it's filtered, but without treating it, it would have high alkalinity. I did some probing but the only thing I could find was that they do dump into a "water body" between the mountains and Jordan River (not a tailing pond which is where most dump to, and they have several of). Looking at the pollution maps that they are responsible for cleaning up, most of it is centered on us with a higher concentration of phosphorous around what appears to be our lake (no details on the map). I'm curious as to what his teacher really saw and what the alkalinity and phosphorous levels of our lake really are. That would clearly explain why all the fish are dying...
Thoughts?

Excuse my ignorance, but since most people are probably thinking it.. what could levels that high do to people if they were to "fall" into the water?

It actually won't do anything to you if you fall in except make your skin feel strange (like a film is on it), but the levels would allow parasites and algae to thrive. Utah Lake has been under careful observation because the phosphourous levels are causing large algal blooms to grow which could be lethal to humans and animals. It's just like a pool, you don't swim in unbalanced pools because of what can grow in it, you want to be sure only healthy organisms are living, and not the dangerous ones (especially ones that can give us, say crypto). The difference is, balancing a lake is much more difficult than a pool which simply needs various chemicals since you're not dealing with an ecosystem.

It is my understanding the water for the lake actually comes from the Jordan River and hence Utah Lake, not the mine. The mine water is used for their slurry processes to transport crushed and processed ore to the smelter in Magna. What they don't use is donated to the south valley irrigation district for farming.

As far as Utah Lake is concerned, people boat, water ski, and jet ski in it every day. It is not the cleanest water but it will not kill you.

If the trout are dying in the lake it is because they need cold waters to repopulate which Oquirrh does not give them. They would have to be restocked regularly to maintain the population.

I believe it was all of our understanding that the water came from the Jordan River, but that's why I'd be interested to see the plans for the lake. Has anyone ever seen proof of where the water comes from (other than my husbands teacher)? I've only been told by an HOA employee... which we all know what that's worth!
As for the donated water... that's a laugh. KL was sued over this... the water isn't safe for irrigation which is why this year they began clean up of South Jordan, Herriman and Riverton as per court order to prevent the water from reaching the Jordan River. As for the "donated" part... they donate it all right... it goes straight to the Jordan Valley Water Conservatory District to be cleaned and sent back out for irrigation. See a problem with this? It's called your tax dollars hard at work.

As for Utah Lake... never said it would kill you. I was referring to the algal blooms that are currently releasing potentially lethal levels of toxins. They've been under careful observation but since algal blooms are unpredictable, noboday really knows how bad it is, and they clearly don't have volunteers to test the potency! Obviously the lake would be closed when it reached a point to cause death. The lake is however at risk (an entire TMDL report completed by local engineers is available on the internet if you're interested), which should be of concern to us as well if we really are getting our lake water from the Jordan River seeing as Utah Lake is the main contributory.

As for the fish dying... with the high level of nutrients that Jordan River has, I wouldn't be surprised to hear it is contributing to our lake's issues. Also, the fish species were choosen by an environmental engineer based off of all the information he had available. I find it hard to believe that lack of cold water is the only reason they are dying (I'm not referring to restocking issues either which is a completely seperate topic). Either way, we're not getting the full truth from KL and until a full analysis is done, everything is a theory. I'm waiting to hear some facts... saying the lake is "too clean" (as Scoop has been told) can't be backed by facts.

(Sorry if I missed anything... my original response didn't go through and I didn't feel like retyping it all)

I am curious about the Jordan River theory. I have lived here 2 1/2 years and have never heard that. Originally, I was told that the lake would be filled using runoff and recyled (filtered) drainage from the neighborhoods. Supposedly all of the drainage pipes from the streets empty into the lake. When we started building, the lake was empty but was opened just before we moved in and seemed to fill as the spring runoff occurred and through the rainy season.

In order for the water to come from the Jordan River, it would have to be piped over 5 miles, up hill, to empty into Oquirrh Lake. I don't recall a pipeline being installed and I don't think one exists so I can't imagine how this urban myth got started. If it came from the HOA maybe they are trying to defer questions away from where the water really came from. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to think that we may be sitting on another Love Canal type situation.

I have a friend who is a reporter that expressed interest in doing an investigative peice on the contamination from Kennecott, I might clue her into this latest issue and see where it goes.